


B is for Bluebell

by WillowArmarillo (textbookbanshee)



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Tenth Walker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:15:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23205331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/textbookbanshee/pseuds/WillowArmarillo
Summary: "Ask away, Mister Meriadoc." She teases."Will you save a dance for me at Bilbo's party?"At first Blue thinks it a ridiculous question.Blue Cotton goes along with her fellow hobbits as they try to destroy the One Ring. She ends up sepearate from half of her kin and trying her best to survive and care for those around her. Merry/OC.Elements from both the books and movies.
Relationships: Merry Brandybuck & Original Female Character(s), Merry Brandybuck/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. Preparing for the Party

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Lotr obviously. All kudos and comments warm my heart! I just wanted to show my hobbits some more love!

The phrase ‘fortune favors the brave’ was never true for Hobbits, Not because being brave was not valued in Middle Earth but because most Hobbits argued that stupidity was often mislabeled as bravery and most Hobbits were not stupid nor brave. Their culture much favored relaxation and predictability, hence why a certain wizard wasn’t praised by the elders and more traditional hobbits. Yet the youth loved him and even some of the more grumpy parents had to give him a smile. No hobbit loved him as much as Frodo Baggins, except maybe his uncle. His uncle who had ran away decades ago and came back more wild than before, contributing to Gandalf’s image of a disrupting old man.

Bilbo’s birthday was being prepared and most of the Shire was buzzing with excitement or, in the case of the Sackeville-Bagginses, impatientence at the fact that Bilbo was still alive and sitting on what they believed was a gold mine. Part of the preparations was an abundance of food: jams being stuffed into jars, drinks brewed special for the party, the field where the party would be was trimmed and leveled out, and tents were either patched and fixed or created as there had never been a party in need of more space than Bilbo’s, at least not one that any current hobbit had been alive to witness.

In the middle of The Shire, with a few days before Bilbo was to be one hundred and eleven, two young hobbits, who happened to be cousins, sat on a bedroom floor, following a dress pattern. The blonde was a hobbit named Rosie Cotton and the brunette was her younger cousin of a few months, Bluebell Cotton. They followed the pattern closely, cutting and sewing with as much precision as Hobbit fingers and eyes would allow. If they wanted to look beautiful for the biggest social event in The Shire then they would have to make new dresses themselves. Rosie’s brothers were out swimming in Bywater Pool with the Gamgees, allowing the Cotton girls precious silence and freedom from ridicule Rosie’s still immature siblings inflicted. In fact, just as they finished trimming the strings on their dresses Bluebell heard the front door burst open as the boys pushed through and offered Rosie a quick goodbye and sped out the door before anything more could be said to her.

Bluebell’s family would be expecting her soon regardless so she was grateful such a moment gave her an easy excuse to make her way from South Lane to her family’s Hobbit hole. She knew the way well as she had taken it most days she lived and always admired the life in the plants around her. In the Shire it was easy to become adapted to green hills and blue skies but the uncle everyone was in an uproar about, had once told her that not all the world was that way and to be grateful. So she tried to be.

This became immediately more trying the instant she got through her door and saw the mud caked on the front and dreaded opening the front door. When she did she saw the marks on the door shyed in comparison to the thick trail that led inside and followed the different paths inside her home. So Rosie's brothers hadn't gone straight home after playing. Venturing further in she found her dark haired mother with her knees firmly planted on the floor of the family's smial, placing pressure on the blasted mixture of dirt, grass, and whatever goo from Bywater Pool her nephews had dragged in while she wasn't looking.

Thyme Cotton was a little bit older than Rosie's mother but quite possibly the strongest hobbit Bluebell knew, though as a child she did not appreciate it as she should have. As she looked at her mother's graying curls she wondered briefly if her mother would reach Mr. Bilbo's age or if she would look as young as he did once she was.

If she, being the youngest, would watch as her father, mother, and brother passed on before she did, powerless to stop it. The rapidly declining thoughts were interrupted as her mother noticed her.

"From your cousins," she said while wiping her brow, "they came looking for you and Ash and dragged mud and water through the house."

"I can help, Ma." Bluebell simply stated, silently hoping her mother would have it magically cleaned up by herself. Some magic seemed to be involved, however, as a rustic voice behind her caused her to spin around.

"It was my fault, Mrs. Cotton. I'm sorry, I tried to stop them, honest. They just didn't listen but I can help you clean it up," said her savior, Samwise Gamgee. Thyme, sweaty and slightly out of breath gave him a wry look.

"In the name of the Shire, Sam, nothing can stop my nephews when they want something. Why would you take credit for it?," she took a pause as Sam squirmed in his spot for a moment, "Unless you were hoping to find Rosie visiting my daughter?".

The slightly wrinkled older hobbit lightly turned her head as she said it to emphasize her question.

"No! I mean- not that I would mind seein' Rosie! I came looking for Miss Bluebell actually," both mother and daughter spared him a laugh at his rapidly reddening face. "Merry is here today and he and Pippin are asking for you."

Blue's face brightened at the thought though she tried to hide the smile.

"I'd love to! But… I have to help my ma with the mess," she really didn't want to at that moment and made a mental note to strangle her younger cousins when she saw them next.

Behind her a miffed little noise found it's way out of her mother's throat.

"Do I look like I need help?," Blue kept the resounding 'yes' to herself, "Go on, honey, I'll have this all cleaned up before you're even down the road. And tell Peregrin he still owes me a new teapot!," 

The glow that filled her heart at those words rivaled the sun in that moment. The excitement that chased her was so great she forgot to thank her mother, had to turn around and kiss her head, and then pull Sam along with her as they made their way down the road. Blue was in such a rush that it was only after they were maybe twenty yards away from her home that she realized she did not know where they were headed.

“So where are we going, Sam?”

“The Green Dragon, Miss Bluebell, of course!”

“Of course,” she echoed, “Merry couldn’t make the trip from Buckland without rewarding himself with some of Shire brew, huh. By the way, Rosie isn’t working tonight.”

Sam didn’t say anything but Blue thought his cheer lessened just slightly.  _ If only he was a little more bold. I’m sure Rosie would like him. _

She ignored his blush for his sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Bywater Pool and South Lane are real (real fantasy) locations in the Shire.  
> *Bilbo and Frodo are technically cousins but I called them uncle/nephew since that’s how the films refer to them and they do have a large age difference  
> *According to what I remember/could find the Cottons and Gamgees are friends (most people seem to be on friendly terms)  
> *Blue’s family’s names are from plants.


	2. Merry tells a secret

They continued on their way until they entered the light-filled building, bursting with song and joy from relaxing hobbits.

“Blue!,” Came the shout only a moment before a weight slammed into her side. “Merry, look who it is!”

“Yes, Pippin, I know. We called for her, remember?” responded the other hobbit as he got up from the table to greet the two newcomers. The smile he gave them was warm as he hugged Sam first before fighting for a spot to hug Blue as Pippin refused to yield.

“Pip,” she said, tapping him with increasing pressure, “I need to breathe!”

“Oh!”

He retracted his limbs from her, smiling face still in front of hers. “We just haven’t seen you in a while!”

“We saw her a week ago,” Merry interjected from behind him.

“Well, yes, but it was your idea to come visit wasn't it?"

"That doesn't change time, Pippin,"

The younger hobbit ignored his cousin but moved to sit at the table regardless. His perpetual smile while in the Green Dragon was of course partly due to ale and partly due to spotting Merry hug Blue with a tight albeit brief squeeze. For being a ‘regular rascal’ as some of the older hobbits would tell them in good humor, Merry could sure be proper in his interactions with Blue. If they were all together the energy between them was light and filled with laughter but if it was just the two of them Merry would be…well.. as reserved as Merry could be. Quieter. More sincere. Maybe he was growing into a prim hobbit. Who knew.

However, his smile slips as soon as the four find themselves in their seats. He knows why they are here.  
No one speaks for a minute. 

The silence shocks Blue who expected her friends to spend the night singing and drinking with their kin. In the back of her mind she also notes their table is not their usual. This table is tucked in the back, away from open windows and any possible prying eyes. As they all now sit, Merry and Pippin on one side and Sam and Blue on the other, a feeling unusual for a hobbit settles in Blue’s stomach. More than the nervousness one might feel as having too little tea at a meal with their kin, this feeling is denser.

Blue’s eyes slip to meet Merry’s in an effort to find comfort and answers but finds his head is turned downwards to his hands which laid clasped together on the table.

She is almost scared to speak but cannot bear the silence.

“Merry?”

“Bilbo has something.”

Something could mean anything. A book. Silverware the Sackville-Bagginses want. But she knows it could not be something so trivial to steal the light from Merry, whose heart was not usually harrowed, and Pippin whose youth made him feel invisible even when compared to his friends only a few years older.

The blonde continued in unusual seriousness. So unusual that Sam almost believed it to be a joke until Merry tells a story.

"I happen to see Bilbo one day on the road when the Sackville-Bagginses start making their way. I could hear Lobelia screeching about Shire knows what but I'm not listening because I'm making my way off to somewhere to hide. Well, when I turn around in the bush Bilbo is still on the road like he can't even hear her.

They start coming around the corner and- and- Bilbo just disappears!"

"Like he jumped into a bush?" Asked Blue.

"Mister Merry are you sure you haven't had anything to drink?" Accused Sam.

"Please, Sam! I know what I saw! No mead or brew could ever make me forget it- or imagine it. What's more I'm staring at the spot Bilbo was in just a moment again, long enough for the S.B's to pass and there he is again! Standing in the same spot as if he had done nothing, but he had done something since he was laughing to himself. And then I saw it- a small glint from something gold he put in his pocket."

Not sure what to make of it both Sam and Blue simply look absentmindedly at the table. Blue's eyes then shift between Merry and Pippin, both quiet, both with eyes filled with trepidation, hoping they are believed.

“Well, what could make him disappear? Something the dwarves gave him?” 

Then Merry jumps into more stories, theories. Pippin is the most silent anyone at that table had ever heard him. Merry remembered details that the others have never caught, behaviors of Bilbo and how they changed through their youth, his unnaturally youthful appearance for his age. His eyes caught so much that Blue was curious if he had details on everyone like this or just Bilbo.

By the end Merry had led them by the hand to a conclusion none of them wanted to voice aloud. Not here. It was too evil to be voiced in a peaceful, joyful place like their home so distant from the wickedness.

They all agree to watch Bilbo closer if they see him (though Merry added his doubts as the old hobbit was determined to be away from people that weren’t Frodo until the party) and to pay more attention to his nephew as well.

They spend the last hour or so eating and drinking, attempting to cover up the soberness of the night and dissuade any eyes who would have been curious why four friends come into the bar and whispered beneath the loud layers of songs and cheers. Blue is unable to finish her mug.

As they all walk away from the Green Dragon she expected her and Sam to go off on their own and for Merry and Pippin to go their own way but instead Merry is beside her and states “I can walk you home, Blue.”

“I’d be glad, Merry. I might not be the best conversationalist at the moment, I’m afraid.” She doesn’t want him to leave but decides hee deserves a fair warning that their walk may only be filled with the sounds of feet hitting soil and not voices.

“Well, I can’t say I’d be glad about that but I can’t blame you either.”

“No, but it was necessary we knew. Thank you... for telling us.”

“Of course! We have to stick together right?" He puts his thumbs beneath his suspenders, pulling on them as they walk. His smile seemed slightly strained but it still clears some of the fog from Blue's head. After a short walk in silence his voice fills the air again. "I would like to ask you something though?"

His tone isn't as serious as it was in the pub but by his fidgeting fingers Blue knows he's holding onto words he desperately wants to say. He may be good at keeping secrets but he couldn't keep everything from his friends, especially her.

"Ask away, Mister Meriadoc." She teases.

"Will you save a dance for me at Bilbo's party?"

At first Blue thinks it a ridiculous question. At any event in which there was dancing she, Merry, Sam, Frodo, and Pippin would always have a dance. Sometimes all of them together and other times breaking off into groups. For him to ask was odd. Still the cold air made her warming cheeks apparent as the wind brushed past them. The flutter that flew through her stomach and heart made her speak before she evaluated more.

"Uh, sure! My first one, or last one, or whenever you can. I don't mind really. Just don't step on my feet like you did that one time!"

The nervous pull of a smile was gone from Merry's face as a genuine grin stole its place. He bit his lip to try to stifle the surely foolish expression but found it pointless. He could not hide his joy. When he looked over at Blue he could see the same expression hidden slightly by her dark hair.

"We were kids! And you were pulling me along so fast I couldn't keep up! Lucky for you I am quite the graceful dancer now."

"Uh huh, I am sure that is what Pippin tells you."

Their bickering did not end until the door of Blue's home filled their view and passed through the small gate on the outside.

She gave him a small curtsey (which he laughed at) and a large smile as she walked backwards toward the door.

"You better practice before the party!" She whisper-shouted, not wanting to wake her family inside.

"I shall not disappoint, my lady!" He whisper-shouted back. "Have a good night, Blue"

"Good night!"

He didn't walk away until the door clicked closed. The walk back home was not filled with any thought of possible danger but instead of the blushing face of a young hobbit lady and what that blush could mean. Before he could come to a conclusion he felt absolutely sure of he was back to the door of where he and Pippin were staying, not wanting to have to make two separate journeys from Bucklebury to come back to Bilbo's party in a few days.

As he opened it and for the rest of the night the only words he heard from Pippin were, "Why are you smiling?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to stay in character is, um, new to me. Wish me luck!  
> *Merry doesn't get enough credit for figuring out what is going on with Bilbo and Frodo!  
> *Him witnessing Bilbo's disappearing trick happens in the book. I don't want to copy everything so I try to make it sound at least a little different and may take liberties since, you know, it's fanfiction.


End file.
